I want a NAS solution to back up my PC and host media files, but prebuilt NAS solutions are incredibly expensive and underwhelming and so I’m planning to build one. Does anyone have recommendations for a NAS interface?

I’m brand new to server management and would prefer something user friendly. I have used linux mint, but currently use windows as my daily driver (planning to switch to mint soon). I’d be fine with a dedicated NAS OS or with something I could run on mint since I’m already familiar with that distro.

  • @just_another_person
    2•26 days ago

    Synology and Qnap cheaper solutions would work just fine for what you need, and are only ~$200-300. Cheaper then building an entire box, but if not…

    Fract Node 804 Case (space for 8 3.5" HDDs, AMD lower wattage CPU, whatever mobo with an SFP module.

    Run TrueNAS or Unraid on it, and you’ll be ready to go.

    • ALoafOfBreadOP
      2•26 days ago

      You might be right. The Synology products look really good. I didn’t see that they actually have a sub-$400 4-bay NAS… DS423. Not sure if it’ll meet my performance needs. But the $600 4 bay doesn’t look too bad either really.

      • @just_another_person
        1•26 days ago

        Do you really need a 4 bay unit though? HDD are cheap right now. You can get a Synology DS-2XX for ~$200, and 2x14TB Refurb WDC for $200. That’s 14TB of Raid 1 protected storage right there for $400.

        • ALoafOfBreadOP
          2•26 days ago

          I didn’t realize how cheap the big hdds had gotten. Definitely looking into 2 bays.

          • @just_another_person
            2•25 days ago

            Yeah, definitely explore it. You can get more service-level things out of a build or higher disk array, but if you don’t need the compute, just go cheap and be satisfied your stuff is safe. Synology has a great ecosystem in my experience.